I get this question often: What is Coaching? Over my years in the profession the answer has gotten easier, as more people understand coaching as a service provided by trained professionals.There are 50,ooo+ coaches in the world and that number is growing fast; yet the definition of coaching is becoming better defined every day, as … Read more
A coaching client recently lost a dear aunt to cancer. “She was like a mom to me,” he explained. A day after our last meeting, he wrote to ask for some help. “Hey, Jim, I was talking with my cousin today. He said that his dad isn’t doing well with his wife passing. He cries … Read more
For the past 15 years much of our workplace discussion on Leadership has gotten sucked into the conversation about Employee Engagement**, focusing on the critical role that managers and leaders play in leveraging the heart and soul of the people on their team. We speak of leveraging the Engaged group, striving to better connect with … Read more
I was in a store with a colleague, and we passed the chocolate display. “Aren’t you going to buy something, Jim?” She asked. “No,” I replied, “I have a pretty full shelf right now.” “Oh, come on,” she said. “Can you possibly have too much chocolate?” I paused for a moment. “Actually, yes,” I confessed. … Read more
In this podcast from station WJCU in Cleveland (John Carroll University is my alma mater!), host DB Hegler leads a conversation on dealing with “problem employees.” The first part of the podcast is an interview with a Cleveland-based employment attorney who focuses on the legal dimensions of addressing or even preventing workplace issues. In the … Read more
Let’s see a show of hands: how many of you are working on personal change goals? Yep, I thought so. How balanced is your thinking process? On the journey from “where you are today” to “where you want to be,” it is just as important to identify what you want to KEEP as what you … Read more
I don’t create a huge summer reading list any more. but people still ask. So as I’m making my selections, I’m sharing. Here are some books I’m reading while on the beach this year: For personal transformation, Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown. Everyone who has read this insists I will love it — about being vulnerable and showing … Read more
Every day is a choice. Every day I get to decide my attitude for the day. Image credit: Julia Kostreva
So I was checking out my Klout score today — having received an upbeat message about how I’m showing so much IMPROVEMENT since I signed up for my account. Go, me! — and the site froze. This was their error message: I laughed out loud for several minutes. I am ever so grateful to the … Read more
I recently attended Human Resources Conference where the topic of performance appraisal came up constantly — in the keynote sessions as well as breakouts. The last speaker of the day pointed out this recurring theme: “What we’ve heard today is that everyone – employees, managers, and HR – hates the annual appraisal process as practiced … Read more